The revelation of Borachio’s crime to Claudio and the
rest marks another turning point in the play. Don John’s deception
has led inexorably to Claudio’s rejection of Hero, darkening the
play’s atmosphere of lighthearted comedy. Dogberry and the Watch’s accusation
of Borachio and Conrad seems to open the way to understanding and
resolution. Claudio’s reaction to the information mirrors what the
wise friar predicts in Act IV, scene i: he begins to remember Hero’s
good qualities. “Sweet Hero, now thy image doth appear / In the
rare semblance that I loved it first,” he says to himself (V.i.235–236).
The punishment that Leonato extracts from him might seem light revenge
for the death of a daughter, but, of course, we know—as he knows—that
Hero isn’t really dead. The punishment obviously establishes the
grounds for a happy ending. If all goes well, it seems, Claudio
is being set up to marry Hero, in a sort of redemptive masquerade.
Act V, scene ii, which develops the growing relationship
between Benedick and Beatrice, is one of the funniest and most touching courtship
scenes in Shakespeare’s works. It gives the audience a chance to
laugh at Benedick and Beatrice as they grapple with the apparent
folly of their love for one another, and also to see that their relationship
is developing into one that is both affectionate and mature. Moreover,
somehow they manage to speak sweetly to each other without losing
their biting wit. Benedick, in fact, laughs at himself when he laments
his inability to write love poetry. “No,” Benedick concludes, “I
was not born under a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival
terms” (V.ii.34–35). Benedick’s inability
to write underlines the difference between the witty and improvisatory court
rhetoric that he is so good at and the very stylized conventions of
Renaissance love poetry.
Beatrice and Benedick interlace their conversation with
news about developments in the main plot of the play, but, throughout, they
tease one another with gentle affection—and, of course, with never-ending
insults. Benedick sums up their situation by saying, “Thou and I
are too wise to woo peaceably” (V.ii.61).
This assessment seems to be true in several respects—they will never
have peace, for both are too lively and independent. But both are
also wise, and it looks as if their love will grow into a deep,
mature relationship in which both will continue to sparkle in the
other’s company. The two also express genuine fondness. To Beatrice’s
assertion that she feels unwell psychologically, Benedick asks her
to “serve God, love me, and mend” (V.ii.78).
When she invites him to come with her to talk with Leonato, he answers,
“I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy
eyes. And moreover, I will go with thee to thy uncle’s” (V.ii.86–87).
Here Benedick plays with a typical Renaissance sexual euphemism,
the idea of dying referring to a sexual orgasm.
